


Followup Questions

by adagietto4



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M, Scott Moir - Freeform, Tessa virtue - Freeform, teenage angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:15:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23172286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adagietto4/pseuds/adagietto4
Summary: When Tessa's boyfriend suddenly breaks up with her for no apparent reason, Scott decides to track him down and find out what his problem is.
Relationships: Scott Moir & Tessa Virtue, Scott Moir/Tessa Virtue
Comments: 8
Kudos: 32





	Followup Questions

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually a short story that I wrote with different characters but I changed it to fit this OPT. Have to keep myself entertained during this isolation somehow! Hope you enjoy.
> 
> P.S. I would recommend reading the fic "Did I Tell You I Need You" before reading this one, but you don't need to :)

Canton, Michigan

Fall, 2003

“Boys are stupid.”

That was the only thing Tessa said when she showed up at Scott's door one May afternoon.

“What happened?” Scott asked, opening the door wider, inviting Tessa inside. She stood in the doorway for a moment, taking a deep breath as she collected her thoughts. She closed her eyes dramatically and shook her head.

“It’s a long story.”

Scott nodded, pursing his lips. She stepped inside and he closed the door behind her. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Tessa shrugged, boring a hole into the floor with her eyes. Scott gently nudged her with his elbow.

“C’mon, Tess,” Scott coaxed, ducking to look at her face. “Let’s go talk.”

With a sigh, she followed.

Scott led her out back to the patio, onto the grass, and over to the treehouse, the one his billet family had built years ago when their children were younger. Scott eyed the rope ladder suspiciously before testing it to see if it would still support their weight. Tessa stood a few feet back, still staring at the ground, studying the grass that poked up between her toes and relishing at the cool, damp soil under her feet. Only when she heard the rope start to squeak and groan as Scott climbed up did she bother to raise her head.

“Careful,” she called up halfheartedly, squinting at the sunlight that shone through the leaves. The squeaking and cracking of the rope finally stopped once Scott reached the top, hauling himself inside with a grunt. He poked his head down through the hole in the floor, a grin plastered across his face. She heard the floorboards creak as he shifted his weight around. It was probably the first time anyone had been up there in years.

“Come on up, Tess,” he replied, gleaning. “If the rope can support me, it can support you!”

She shook her head listlessly but started to climb. Once inside, she was surprised to see how small it was. She remembered the one her and her siblings had built at home. She remembered it being so much bigger than this one. As her eyes adjusted to the light, her mind was flooded with memories of home. She remembered pictures they drew on the wooden slats (including the giant Maple Leafs logo her brothers drew that took up an entire wall), sticks and rocks they had collected, and bird’s nest that her and Scott had found the summer after they started skating together. Dust particles danced in the rays of sunlight that poured through the cracks in the ceiling and walls, highlighting the dense thickets of cobwebs in every crevice. Branches had grown through the window that overlooked the street, littering the floor with tiny crab apples. It all seemed so surreal.

Tessa pushed herself into a corner and leaned against the wall, swatting cobwebs out of her hair. Scott sat down with a sigh, staring Tessa down.

“I know you want to talk,” he began, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at her. “But you don’t like to talk about your feelings unless prompted, so here’s your prompt. Talk to me.”

Then it was Tessa's turn to sigh. She pursed her lips and looked around the treehouse, avoiding eye contact. Eventually her eyes found her hands, which were joined in her lap.

“Tyson had been acting weird lately,” she started, not lifting her gaze. “He started getting all spacey around me, then he started making up excuses to not hang out with me. He stopped answering the phone, and every time I went up to him at school it was really awkward.” Tessa's voice trailed off. Scott noticed her struggling to continue.

“It’s okay, Tess,” he reassured her. She sniffled, meekly wiping her cheek with the back of her hand. Scott knew that Tessa didn’t cry over just anything. He felt himself growing angry at whoever had upset her to the point of tears. She took a deep breath and kept going.

“I felt like something’s been coming for a while now,” she went on, still staring at her lap. “The way he’d been acting. Then I noticed him spending time around Melanie. At first I thought it was just a coincidence, like it was just an accident, but then he started ditching me at lunch for her, making up some lame excuse.” She raised her head, looking at Scott. Her face was mottled a blotchy red and her eyes brimmed with tears. “Then he started sitting closer and closer to her in class. Then he started saying he couldn’t drive me home after school. I thought it was because of his job. I was so stupid.”

“Tessa!” Scott exclaimed. “Don’t say that. You’re not stupid, he’s just an asshole.”

“I’m not done,” she said. “I knew what was coming, I just didn’t know when or how he was going to say it. I sure didn’t expect Melanie to get into his car after school today, and I definitely didn’t expect to get a phone call from him, from Melanie’s house, telling me he wanted to break up, and I sure ashell didn’t expect him to just hang up after saying it.”

“Wait a second.” Alarms rang in Scott's head. “He broke up with you over the _phone_?”

Tessa blew out an emphatic breath and nodded. She rolled a rotting apple under her palm.

“Are you _serious_?!” Scott's volume grew.

“Keep your voice down,” Tessa said. Scott was undeterred. He stood up with so much force that the treehouse lurched.

“What an asshole!” He stomped a foot down hard against the wooden floorboards, sending the entire structure quivering. Tessa shot him a look.

“Sit down, Scott,” she said, “people can hear you.” He slinked to the floor, embarrassed, gingerly running his fingers through his hair. Tessa continued. “Yes, he broke up with me over the phone, but I don’t really care. Honestly.”

“I saw the tears in your eyes, Tessa,” Scott deadpanned, wide eyed and serious.

“Yeah, well, it’s not like it matters,” she went on, “it’s not like I’m going to be talking to him any time soon.”

Scott leaned forward, now invested in Tessa's love-life. “No,” he stated, “You’re not going to just let him get away with treating you like that, are you?”

Tessa tossed the apple out the window and shrugged. “I don’t exactly _want_ to talk to him.”

Scott picked up another apple. “Then let me do it.”

Tessa glared at him. “You are _not_ talking to Tyson.”

“And why not?”

“Because I’m not going to have anyone think that I can’t fight my own battles.”

“But you’re not even going to talk to him!”

“Because I don’t _want_ to talk to him.”

“But you can’t have him go around thinking that breaking up with someone over the phone for no apparent reason is an okay thing to do.”

Tessa sighed through her nose, annoyed. “Why does this bother you more than it bothers me?”

“Because you’re my best friend,” he explained, “And it bothers me because I know you don’t just cry over anything. Don’t think of it as me fighting your battles.” He paused to throw the apple out the window. “Think of it as me having your back.”

Tessa smirked, looking down and grabbing another apple to hide her smile. “Thanks. But please don’t talk to Tyson about it, really,” she begged, “I honest to God don’t care.”

“Like I said, I know that’s not true,” Scott replied earnestly, “But if you really don’t care, then think about if he did it to another girl. What happens when he moves on from Melanie? Is he going to break _her_ heart over the phone, too?”

Tessa leered at him. “He didn’t _break my heart_.”

“Yeah, well,” he continued, “Whatever it was, he hurt you. I won’t stand for that.”

Tessa rolled her eyes and blew out a breath, blushing slightly. Scott leaned forward.

“Look, I won’t talk to him unless you want me to.”

Tessa raised an eyebrow at him suspiciously. “Promise?”

She held out her pinky finger. Scott linked his with hers to seal the deal, his other hand with his fingers crossed behind his back.

“Promise.”

It wasn’t hard for Scott to find Tyson the next morning.

 _That son of a bitch,_ he thought as he approached Tyson’s locker, all of his anger having returned after stewing all morning. _The nerve. The_ audacity _. Breaking up with a girl like Tessa? Breaking her heart? Big mistake, dickass._

The closer he got to Tyson, however, the more his confidence left him. _Has he always been this tall? Doesn’t he do karate—or taekwondo—on a state level? What if he has a knife in his backpack?_ Scott's heart began to race. _Oh God, he definitely has a knife. What am I doing? I’m a dead man. No, I’m already here. I’m so close. I can’t back out now. Fuck. Fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck-fuck. No, it’s for Tessa. Do it for Tess._

“Hey,” Scott eked out as he sidled up next to Tyson’s locker, hands slotted into his pockets, discreetly trying to wipe his sweaty palms on the inside of his pants. He glanced around nervously. _What are you scared of? It’s not like you’re going to fight him. What if he tries to fight me? Oh God, I’m really going to die._

Tyson half-turned towards Scott with a look of contempt on his face before turning back to face his locker. “What do you want?”

Scott took a quick breath through gritted teeth. _Stay calm, stay calm._ “So,” he began, “what happened with Tessa?”

Tyson quickly grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder before locking his things up and turning his back to Scott, starting down the hall to his first class as though he hadn’t heard a thing he’d said. He mumbled over his shoulder, “Did she put you up to this?”

Scott was taken aback. “What? No! No.” Tyson stopped as Scott went on trying to explain himself. “It’s just that Tessa came to my house yesterday after you, uh, broke up with her. She said she didn’t understand why and I’m just here for answers because she wouldn’t dare ask them herself.” _Who breaks up with somebody over the phone, you dickass?!_ he wanted to yell.

Tyson scoffed and shook his head, glancing over his shoulder long enough to say, “Jeez, you’re dense,” before heading to class. Scott squinted in confusion, cocking his head, before turning to follow Tyson.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked after him. Tyson stopped and faced him again, eyes narrowed in disdain. He shook his head condescendingly.

“Do you really not know?”

Scott shrugged agitatedly. “I guess not.”

He glanced around as Scott had earlier before taking two big steps and suddenly he was in his face, so close Scott could smell his cologne.

“You wanna know why I broke it off?” he breathed into Scott's face. “It wasn’t because of anything she did. She didn’t cheat, she didn’t lie, she didn’t try to steal my things, didn’t constantly talk about herself, didn’t say anything weird. She’s a nice girl. Honestly.”

Scott took a step back. “Then why’d you break up with her?”

His eyes narrowed at Scott again.

“Because of _you_.”

Scott's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he felt his neck getting hot. “ _What_? Me?”

Tyson’s shoulders sagged in mock disgust. “ _Yes_ , because of you.

“Every time we were together, she’d never talk about _our_ interests, or things I liked or things she liked. She’d always talk about you. What _you_ liked, what kind of things the _two of you_ had done together. The places you’d gone, the things you’d seen. She’d always, always, always find a way to bring you up. She’d always link things back to you. We go out for ice cream? ‘Oh, Scott's favourite kind is _whatever_.’ We drive around town? ‘Scott and I go to this place or that place all the time.’ We’re sitting in my goddamn bedroom?! ‘Scott's read this book, Scott's read that book.’ It always has to be about you. Can’t be about her and me, or even just herself. It’s always. About. You.”

Scott froze. His mind went blank. He couldn’t focus on what Tyson was trying to say. The only thing going through his mind was _Tessa talks about me?_ His heart banged in his chest as he stared awkwardly the floor, his face red with embarrassment. _She talked about me? To her boyfriend?_ Only one other thought came to mind. _Does she like me?_ Followed shortly by a sheepish _Do I like her?_ He didn’t have time to even consider his answer before Tyson spoke again.

“And it’s not that I don’t like her, not at all. It’s that she doesn’t like _me_. She never did.

“Look, I don’t know what’s going on between you two. I know you’ve been best friends since, like, third grade or whatever, and you two skate together, and that’s no reason to have feelings for eachother or whatever, but what I’m saying is that there’s definitely something more there. Everyone can see it, you’re not fooling anyone.”

Tyson appeared as though he was about to storm off, turning and taking a few brisk steps down the hall before spinning back around and marching right back up to Scott. He spoke in a quiet but harsh tone, like someone trying to chastise a child in public without making a scene.

“You know, some people say that you have a girlfriend to try and prove to people that you’re not gay, but I really think that you have a girlfriend to try and prove to _yourself_ that you don’t like Tessa. That you’re not in _love_ with her. I’m probably one of the only people in this school who believes you when you say you’re not gay, and you wanna know why? Because I see the way you look at her. And I see the way she looks at you, too. And the way she talks about you. And the way you talk about her. It’s so obvious. It’s _pathetic_. You’d have to be pretty goddamn blind not to see it. I think you’re both just in denial. I just hope you figure out whatever the hell this is and save _everyone_ the trouble because the only people you’re fooling are each other.”

That was the last thing Tyson said before finally heading to class, turning on his heels and making off as the bell rang, leaving Scott to gawk in the hallway, his mind reeling with everything he had professed to him. It wasn’t until someone bumped into him on their way to class that Scott decided that he, too, should hurry along. He ran to his own locker before sauntering to class.

As Scott made his way to chemistry, he allowed himself time to think. His immediate reaction to Tyson’s accusations was to be offended, to deny what he said as fact, that he _didn’t_ like Tessa like that and that he _did_ like his girlfriend not to just prove a point. He wasn’t trying to fool anyone, _least_ of all himself. Of course not. Him and Tessa had been best friends ever since he was nine, and being best friends for eight years, it was only natural, after all, that the two of them appreciated one another as much as they did. It was love, in a sense, but not in the way Tyson was intending. It was like a brother-sister relationship, that was it. Tessa was like the sister he never wanted. That’s what he told his family.

His immediate reaction to Tyson’s accusations was to be offended, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t be.

After all, it wasn’t Scott's fault if he caught himself staring at Tessa from across the locker room or across the ice. It for-sure wasn’t his fault when his heart skipped a beat when Tessa would look up and catch him staring, holding eye contact for a few seconds before smiling and turning her attention back to their routine, leaving him blushing. And it definitely wasn’t his fault when he would catch himself thinking of it hours later when Tessa wasn’t around, when he was in the car, or with Valerie, or even when he was lying in bed alone, trying to sleep at night. Thoughts of Tessa clogged every facet of his imagination. Of this, he never complained.

He wasn’t offended by Tyson’s accusations. He was shocked that he had realized it before he had. He forced Scott to come to a not-so-startling realization: he _was_ in love with Tessa.

It was only natural, considering they had been friends for so long, Scott thought. In all honesty, when he thought about his future, who he’d end up with, have children with, grow old with, the blurry face of his future wife always resembled Tessa. He thought that was only because they spent so much time together, that she was a sort of filler until he actually found the person who he’d want to spend the rest of his life with. Turns out it was his head’s way of telling him that he didn’t need to search for her. He’d already found her. He had nine years earlier on that brisk October day when his first partner decided she was done with skating. Or, really, his aunt had found her.

As he turned down the hallway where his classroom was, thought flashed through his mind. _I can’t tell her any of this_ , he thought. _I have a girlfriend. I can’t break it off with Val just like that._ Then another thought occurred. _What if what Tyson said wasn’t true? He only said what he_ thought _was true, that doesn’t mean that it_ is _true. What if she only sees me as a friend? What if we get together and it ruins the friendship we have now? I can’t risk that. I_ can’t _risk that._ The sudden rush of contradicting thoughts sent his head spinning again. He wiped his sweaty palms on his pants before entering the classroom.

Throughout the morning, his interaction with Tyson was all he could think about. Before second class started, he made a vow to himself. A vow that he would never tell Tessa about what Tyson had told him; about what he had come to realize that morning. He decided that there was too much at stake for him to act on his feelings, and he wouldn’t dare risk the longest and most meaningful friendship he’d ever known.

When the bell rang, Scott rushed to his locker before the five minute break between first and second period was up. There was Tessa, standing at her locker, the one three down from his. She looked up and gave him that typical cheery smile of hers when she saw him. He took a deep breath as he started putting in his combination. She noticed the hunch to his gait and the redness of his neck.

“Everything okay?” she asked. Scott took another deep breath and nodded.

“Mhm,” he mumbled, fingers fumbling with the tumbler nervously. He ran his hands through his hair as he tried the combination again. He looked at Tessa and smiled in an attempt to get her off his guilty trail. _Why do I feel guilty? I’m doing us both a favour._

Tessa raised an eyebrow. “You didn’t talk to Tyson, did you?”

Scott shot her an exaggerated look. “What?” he replied sarcastically, finally getting his locker open. “ _Me_? Talk to _Tyson_? After he broke up with you _over the phone_? I would never. You know me better than that, Tess.”

“Mhm,” she hummed in a disbelieving tone. “Did he beat you up? You know he’s won provincial championships in judo.” Scott chuckled. _It was judo._

“No, he did _not_ beat me up,” he assured her, “We just talked.”

“About what?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Of course I’m going to worry about it, Scott, it was about me.”

“Mmm,” he hummed, “Not all of it.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Scott smiled warmly and gave her a reassuring look.

“I said don’t worry about it, Tess.” She shrugged.

“Okay then,” she replied nonchalantly.

Just before she was about to head to her next class, a thought occurred to her.

“Hey,” she said, turning to face Scott. “Do you want to go for a drive after school? Since I no longer have plans.”

Scott smiled.

_Why would I want to risk losing this?_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! This is the first thing I've published in over a year. Feel free to leave a comment or kudos or something!


End file.
